Stretching and exercise are just another way to help promote better scar healing. If yoga is a consideration, you may not know which type is best suited for your needs. Below are a few of the most popular styles of yoga so that you can make the decision of what will work best for you.

Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga is also known as hot yoga. This is a form of yoga that is done in a hot and humid room. Bring a towel because you will sweat as much as possible while stretching your muscles and relaxing. People who want to make yoga into a powerful workout can use the Bikram yoga style to sweat out toxins in the sessions.

Yoga Nidra

This is interpreted as yoga sleep. This is a type of yoga where you can focus so clearly that you fall asleep for small amounts of time, but you will feel restored as if you were asleep for many hours on end. This means that you can get a nice rest when you go to the class. Also, you will be able to escape from reality completely when you are in the class.

Ananda Yoga

Ananda yoga is a form of yoga that focuses on each posture being as gentle as possible. When you have bad joints, have been injured or are just beginning, you can take one of these classes so that you can ease your way into the practice of yoga on a regular basis. You may want to step up from these classes once you are more experienced.

Integral Yoga

It is a scientific system which integrates the various branches of yoga in order to bring about a complete and harmonious development of the individual. You will be able to do all the poses in the class, but you will also do a great deal of chanting, relaxation and prayer. This is a class that gives you a little bit of everything for your mind, body and spirit.

These four types of yoga can bring you closer to a sense of relaxation and fitness. People can get into shape quickly during these classes, and they can learn to calm themselves at the same time.

As the weather is heating up, outdoor exercise is a great idea to not only enjoy some summer weather, but to promote better scar healing. Depending on the humidity of the day, there are a few exercises that can get you going towards a fulfilling fitness routine. These three simple summer fitness routines do not need high quality equipment or any specialized training in order to maximize the most benefits.

Try these this summer:

1. Swimming
If you are not afraid of the water and enjoy a bit of a splash once in a while to cool off, combining this activity with a simple fitness routine is smart. Try doing a few laps throughout the pool to build up your cardio training or try running back and forth to build resistance. Pool exercises are a great way to fit in a workout and stay cool at the same time.

2. Biking
You do not need to necessarily be in a premiere location to enjoy this simple exercise. Although, it will be important to wear the proper gear such as a helmet, proper shoes and so on. Whether you take the scenic route through the local park or swap driving your car for cycling to run some errands, it can make for a healthy workout. If you are planning on biking through streets where cars may be, it is of course, important to be aware of traffic signs and follow proper traffic laws.

3. Walking or Jogging
Walking and jogging may be one of the simpliest exercise alternatives. Switch up your routine and fitness level by walking stairs at the park, change it up with locations that have an incline or simply walk a flat surface.

As always, be sure to wear broad spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30+ when outdoors. It’s especially important for your scar, and if SPF clothing is possible, even better.

Do you have a question about your scar? Leave us a comment and we’ll be happy to answer.

It’s no secret that exercise is great for scar healing. It gets the blood flowing, bringing healing oxygen to the scar area and all over the body, improves muscle tone, burns fat, and gives you lots of energy and stress relief, among other benefits. There’s no better time to work out outdoors than Spring, so try one of these awesome springtime fitness activities to get the scar-healing exercise you need.

Gardening

Daily gardening can not only provide you with delicious and healthy vegetables and fruits or beautiful flowers, it also increases your flexibility, strengthens your joints, lowers your risk for diabetes, and can decrease your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, just like many other exercises.

While gardening, you work all of your major muscle groups, and can easily keep your heart rate elevated by moving briskly. Gardening can also involve a good deal of stretching, particularly when you reach for weeds or high branches, extend a rake, or bend to plant. Pushing wheelbarrows, lifting heavy bags of mulch, and shoveling all strengthen your body, and you achieve these benefits without the high-impact joint stresses of, say, running.

To get the most out of gardening for fitness, work in your garden for at least half an hour a day, several days a week. Start slowly is you aren’t accustomed to exercise, and be sure to bend and lift properly, using your legs and not your back. Perform lots of different tasks, like planting, weeding, and pruning, in order to work all the major muscle groups.

Cycling

Few things are as much fun as riding a bicycle outdoors when the weather finally starts to warm up. In addition to being lots of fun, cycling offers many great health benefits. Contrary to popular belief, cycling does not only involve the legs; the whole body is engaged and strengthened with this activity. It improves muscle tone, is great for joint mobility, and builds stamina. It gets the heart rate up for cardiovascular benefits and burns plenty of calories. It can also be quite refreshing and reduce the stress that builds up under the pressures of daily life.

For the best benefits and a way to begin cycling that ensures you will be able to stick it out long-term, start off slowly. Try two-three times a week to start, and increase your speed gradually as you gain endurance and strength. Finally, safety comes first: remember your helmet and learn about traffic signals for cyclists.

Geocaching

Want to try something really exciting? Why not combine fitness with treasure hunting? Geocaching is a great outdoor activity that you can participate in with friends or family of all ages. Geocaching, if you aren’t familiar with this sport, involves searching for hidden containers which other geocachers hide in almost two million – that’s right – locations around the world. Participants use handheld GPS devices and information from a number of websites listed by other geocachers to aid them in their hunts.

The geocache itself is usually a small plastic container or other holder that has a logbook and pencil inside, along with inexpensive “treasures” you can trade. The general rule is that if you take something from the container, you replace it with something of equal or greater value.

The adventure and exercise benefits of geocaching occur because caches are located in all kinds of places, from city streets to remote wooded trails to underwater locations. So geocaching can be as easy or as challenging as you’d like – start by checking a website like geocaching.com to find simple treks in your local area and see if you don’t have so much fun you’ll want to do this activity more and more often. Many people use their existing smartphones with GPS enabled, or you can invest in a stand-alone GPS device. It’s up to you.

Do you have a question about your scars? Leave a comment and we’ll be happy to answer.

Depending on the type of wound you have, preventing a noticeable scar altogether may not be possible. However, for some minor wounds, following the steps below may prevent a permanent scar from being more noticeable. And if your wound is more severe, these same steps can significantly lessen its final appearance.

Preventing Infection
Infection of a wound is directly related to the severity of the eventual scar. That’s because some bacteria produce toxins or other byproducts that destroy tissue, exacerbating the severity of the wound. In addition, the skin’s inflammatory response to infection also creates a worse scar. Keeping any wound extremely clean and preventing infection is a great way to prevent or minimize scarring.

Optimal Nutrition
A healthy diet full of a variety of nutrients is important for overall health as well as scar healing. Certain nutrients are particularly helpful in the healing process. Protein foods such as meats, beans, and nuts help the body create collagen. Foods rich in zinc like beef, yogurt, peas, and black beans reduce inflammation and speed healing. Vitamins A, B, and C help with different aspects of healing such as collagen production, inflammation prevention, and the growth of new blood vessels. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables as well as meat, eggs, fish, and whole grains to make sure you are consuming enough of these important vitamins.

Exercising
Exercise is important for anyone who wants to minimize a scar. Exercise promotes great blood circulation, which brings more healing oxygen to the site of your scar. Oxygen helps prevent infection, promotes healing, and minimizes scars. Remember to exercise as regularly as possible for the best results. If all you are able to do is walk, then walk; even this will help with scar healing. You can also try different types of exercise such as swimming, yoga, the increasingly popular boot camp fitness classes, or anything that is fun and gets you moving.

Not Smoking
The importance of oxygen in the scar healing process is also a reason why you should not smoke. Smoking comes with a whole host of health dangers, and scar healing is one of them. By constricting blood vessels and decreasing the amount of oxygen that can get to the scar, smoking delays healing, increases your chance of infection, and deplete your vitamin C levels, which your body already cannot store or create on its own. All of this contributes to a scar that takes longer to heal and is more unsightly than it has to be.

The Right Scar Treatment
The right scar treatment can make all the difference in the final appearance of your scar. Choose one with vitamin C, which promotes collagen production, leading to better and faster healing and fading hyperpigmentation. Silicone is another important component of a good scar treatment. Silicone has been clinically proven to soften and flatten scars. Aloe vera, linoleic acid, oleic acid, and licorice extract are also safe and effective ingredients to look for. Avoid onion extract and vitamin E, which are ineffective, and hydroquinone, preservatives, parabens, and fragrances, which can cause allergic reactions and can worsen scars.

Have a question about your scar? Leave a comment and we’ll be happy to answer.

Finding a great scar treatment product is only half the battle. If only it were as simple as applying a gel and watching your scar vanish! The truth is that the effectiveness of any product depends partly on how you use it and many of the choices you make during treatment. You want your scar as minimally visible as possible, so be sure to follow these tips to maximize your results.

1. Choose the right product. You want aproduct you can trust to be safe and effective, one that does not contain any harmful ingredients or unnecessary chemicals. Look for a scar treatment with dimethicone silicone, a stable form of Vitamin C, aloe vera, licorice extract, and other ingredients that have been proven to heal scars without damaging your health.

2. Use the product consistently. Of all the things you should be doing, this is probably the most important. It is far too common for people to begin using a product and then get busy, distracted, or even discouraged if their results aren’t fast and dramatic. This can lead to using the product sporadically or stopping its use altogether before treatment is complete, which will not yield the best possible results. Use the product at least twice a day for at least 12 weeks. You may notice improvements within the first couple of weeks, but the scar will continue to improve for up to several months.

3.Apply the product first. That means under any moisturizer, sunscreen, or makeup. In order for the product to be effective, it must be applied directly to the skin. After applying, be sure to wait for it to dry before applying cosmetics or other products.

4. Boost your results with a healthy diet. Vitamin C isn’t only effective in a scar cream and applied to the skin; it also offers great scar-healing benefits when eaten, so get plenty of citrus fruits, broccoli, peppers, and other foods rich in vitamin C. Protein will help your body make the most of collagen; zinc and vitamin B both work to help your skin heal faster; Vitamin A is great for tissue synthesis.

5. Avoid the sun. Even brief exposure can lead to darkening of your scar, and this change can be permanent. Especially during the first six months, when scars are still forming and changing, be sure to wear an SPF 30 sunblock, or keep the scar covered with clothing.

6. Get plenty of exercise. Exercise offers many heart and overall health benefits, improves your mood, gives you more energy, and helps you sleep better. But exercise also helps your scar heal faster! That’s because exercise improves your circulation, meaning that more oxygen-rich blood is transported to the site of your healing scar, and oxygen is key in optimal healing. If your scar is the result of a surgical incision, you may not feel much like exercise at first, but do as much as you can (and as much as your doctor gives the green light on). Even a short daily walk will go a long way to help with healing.

Do you have a question about your scar? Leave us a comment and we’ll be happy to answer.